Ren Harota bit her bottom lip nervously as she gazed at the front door of a house she had not been in for over a year. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she reached out with one hand towards the door. She paused. Ren simply could not do it. Not after she had left them without much of an explanation. Not after she had not even sent a letter for over a year. How could she face the people she had loved as a family for four wonderful months. She had almost felt she belonged somewhere when she lived with them.

"I can do this" She sighed softly, speaking to herself. She had to find the strength to face them. They would understand. They knew all too well what she was like when she got it into her silly head to do something. Shaking slightly she extended her hand to the door and pulled it open.

Stepping cautiously inside she slipped off her black shoes. Now her jeans fell a little past her feet since the shoes' extra height had previously kept them off the ground. She rolled her bright green eyes before tracing over the steps through the rooms she knew so well. Only one person should have been home at this time; the other would have been at school.

As Ren reached the main room she smiled to see a familiar figure sat at the table with a cup of tea instead of doing work. She walked silently up behind him before slipping a hand over each of his eyes. He jumped a little with fright but settled when he heard her voice.

"Guess who" Ren trilled contently. Shigure reached up and removed her hands from his eyes, turning quickly incase she ran off again. A grin curved over his lips as he gazed up at her.

"Ren... Are you back for good?" Shigure inquired cautiously, tilting his head slightly to one side. He was relieved to see her nod by way of reply. Without thinking he threw his arms around her. As usual there was a band and the customary smoke. When it cleared Shigure was still where he had previously been but now he sported black dog ears and a tail. Ren had changed too. She now had white rat ears and a tail.

"You knew that would happen" she tutted, arms around him in a tight hug. She had missed the perverted dog so badly she thought her heart would break. He was the brother that the white-haired girl had always longed for.

"Yes, but I didn't really care" Shigure shrugged impassively. "I missed you too much. Why did you run off?"

Ren released him from her grip. She frowned a little "Did I have a choice?!" she snapped without thinking. Then she calmed herself a little by mentally counting to ten "Oh hell, what I mean is I... I'm sorry." She paused, biting down on her bottom lip. "I didn't mean to make you worry but I had to leave"

"Don't worry so much" Shigure said with a warm smile. "I know you had to go" He understood Ren very well indeed. She hated people talking about her past and she hated her family's curse even more.

"How long before Yuki gets home?" Ren inquired happily, things were starting to feel normal again. She was glad that Shigure forgave her for disappearing. Strangely enough the dog's opinion meant a hell of a lot to her.

"An hour or so... Speaking of which, are you going to be staying here again?" the older of the pair asked contently. "You're more than welcome to your old attic room. Don't worry, we haven't touched it" He was startled when Ren threw her arms around him once more. She really was like his little sister, a fact that even Aya noticed when he was around them.

"Yay! I love you!" she giggled happily before letting go and darting up to see what condition her room was in. She stood looking around her. It needed a serious cleaning but other than that everything was fine. Ren made a mental note to try on the clothes she had left behind and throw out what no longer fitted her. But that could be done later. For the moment she would just get rid of the layer of dust that was covering every surface.

Downstairs Shigure smiled peacefully, thinking of the returning girl. He knew Ren better than most people did and perhaps this was behind his sighed words. "Such a beautiful disaster.."